A boot volume clone is a point-in-time direct disk-to-disk deep copy of the source boot volume, so all the data that is in the source boot volume when the clone is created is copied to the boot volume clone. Any subsequent changes to the data on the source boot volume are not copied to the boot volume clone. Since the clone is a copy of the source boot volume it will be the same size as the source boot volume unless you specify a larger volume size when you create the clone..

The clone operation occurs immediately and you can use the cloned boot volume as soon as the state changes to available.

There is a single point-in-time reference for a source boot volume while it is being cloned, so if you clone a boot volume while the associated instance is running, you need to wait for the first clone operation to complete from the source before creating additional clones. You also need to wait for any backup operations to complete as well.

You can only create a clone for a boot volume within the same region, availability domain and tenant. You can create a clone for a boot volume between compartments as long as you have the required access permissions for the operation.

Using the Console

Open the navigation menu. Under Core Infrastructure, go to Compute and click Boot Volumes.

In the Boot Volumes list, click the boot volume you want to clone.

In Resources, click Clones.

Click Create Clone.

In the Create Clone dialog, specify a name for the clone.

Check Custom Block Volume Size (GB) and then specify the new size. You can only increase the size of the volume, you cannot decrease the size. If you clone the boot volume to a larger size volume, you need to extend the volume's partition, see Extending the Partition for a Boot Volume for more information..

Click Create Clone.

The boot volume is ready use once its icon lists it as AVAILABLE in the Boot Volumes list.

Next Steps

Attach the boot volume to an instance as a data volume, for more information, see Attaching a Volume.

Making a boot volume clone while an instance is running creates a crash-consistent clone, meaning the data is in the identical state it was in at the time the clone was made. This is the same state it would be in the case of a loss of power or hard crash. In most cases you can use the cloned boot volume to create an instance, however to ensure a bootable image, you should create a custom image from your instance. For information about creating custom images, see Managing Custom Images.